


Franklin

by mellod89



Series: Song Verse [7]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Gen, No spoilers for recent chapters, Song fic, home coming, takes place after canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-28
Updated: 2014-12-28
Packaged: 2018-03-03 15:32:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2855981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mellod89/pseuds/mellod89
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And when we get home, I know we won't be home at all<br/>This place we live, it is not where we belong<br/>And I miss who we were in the town that we could call our own<br/>Going back to get away after everything has changed<br/>~Paramore</p>
            </blockquote>





	Franklin

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the link to the title song if you want to listen:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnFT5rlZzm8
> 
> Thanks to Remmy for the beta!

When Erwin told them that they needed to take a break, Eren, Armin, and Mikasa were at a loss for what they could do.

For the past two years after the war had ended, their world revolved around the reconstruction of the damaged territories as well as planning for the first major expedition outside of the walls since the titans were eradicated. So much work had to be done, and if overworking kept them from dwelling on the people they lost and the mistakes they made, then who could blame them?

Only now they were being told that they had done enough.

“None of you have taken a break in the past two years.” Erwin gazed at them sternly. “It’s not healthy, and I refuse to have my best soldiers burnt out.”

“With all due respect, sir, I believe when I speak for the three of us, that we don’t mind the extra work. In fact, we prefer it.” Armin held Erwin’s gaze unwavering.

“Be that as it may, everyone needs to take time off sometime. Even I make sure to take a few days off when I can. No one expects you three to do everything. You’ve done enough. Now, I order you to take two weeks off.” Erwin’s tone left no room for argument.

Eren gaped. “But what are we supposed to do for two weeks?”

“I don’t know. Go traveling, visit friends, take up a new hobby. I don’t care what you do as long as you’re nowhere near headquarters when you do it. Preferably, I’d like you completely out of town, so you have no excuse to drop by.”

Mikasa frowned. “Where are we supposed to go? Everyone we could possibly care about is here.”

Erwin sighed. “I know that you’ve lost a lot during all of this, and you’d rather work to forget, but is it worth it to work yourselves into an early grave?”

None of them spoke, choosing instead to look away from their commander.

“Take this time to mourn your losses properly, and when you come back, I need you refreshed and ready to go. We’ll be in the final stages of preparing for the expedition beyond the walls when you return.” Erwin looked the three of them over noting their lost expressions. “I hear that Shiganshina’s been completely renovated. It would be good for you to finally go home.”

“Yes, sir,” the three of them intoned together.

“You’re dismissed.”

The three of them saluted and left Erwin’s office.

Home. The last time they were there it had been in ruins. Titans littered the streets as they fought to make it to Eren’s basement. So many lives had been lost that day, but the information they gathered turned the tide of the war.

“I think we should go,” Armin spoke softly as they walked back to the barracks.

“Armin!” Eren stopped, face marred with confusion.

“I think it’ll be good for us.” Armin turned to face Eren. “Commander Erwin was right. All we’ve done the past two years is work, but no amount of trying to distract ourselves will keep us from remembering the people we lost. What good will that do? We should do something to commemorate their memory.” He finished clenching his fists.

Mikasa grabbed Armin’s hand in hers. “That’s a good idea.”

Eren huffed. “You guys can’t be serious.”

Mikasa looked at him blankly. “Don’t you want to say good bye?”

Eren looked at his feet. “Fine,” he whispered tightly.

Armin nodded his head. “We should pack then. We’ll leave first thing in the morning. It’s going to take few days to get there.”

“We should make stops along the way. Visit places our friends have fallen,” Eren offered.

“You sure?” Mikasa looked at him concerned.

Eren finally looked up from his feet. “Yeah. It’s like Armin said. We should commemorate their memories.”

Armin smiled.

*

It took them several days longer than they thought it would, but they visited as many spots as they could remember. At each location, they shared their favorite memories of their fallen comrades, and left a small trinket behind.

For Sasha, they left a bit of potato.

For Jean, they left a small wooden horse.

For Levi, they left a cup of tea.

In this way, they traveled around slowly making their way to the final stop on their trip.

When they finally made it to Shiganshina, the first place Armin wanted to visit was the steps on the edge of the river. It was the last place where he, Mikasa, and Eren had had a moment of peace before their lives changed forever.

So much had changed since then, yet it still seemed the same. All of the buildings were repaired with no signs of previous damage. Children happily ran through the streets playing. Merchants were busy selling their wares.

“It’s like nothing’s changed,” Eren murmured looking out across the river.

“No.” Armin shook his head. “It only looks that way. Things can be rebuilt, people can repopulate, but the memories, the ghosts of the past, will always be there.”

Silence fell between them as they contemplated Armin’s words. Even though the damage had been erased, and everyone was cheerful and smiling, everywhere they looked memories of their home town haunted them. Some of them were good. Many of them were bad.  

So much had changed, and yet so much was still the same.

“Come on, I want to see if Harmon’s is still there.” Mikasa stood and they followed behind her.

As they walked the streets, they’d stop and point out familiar locations, reminiscing about their childhood antics. Sometimes they’d actually run in to someone they thought was long gone, reminding them of how things used were before the wall fell, but when they arrived at their favorite bakery it was no longer there.

In its place was a tea shop.

“I guess Harmon didn’t survive.” Mikasa frowned.

Armin shrugged. “He could have. Maybe he didn’t want to come back.”

“Does it really matter? The shop’s no longer here. Let’s go somewhere else,” Eren grumbled.

Mikasa and Armin looked at each other then looked at Eren.

“Is there something wrong?” Armin asked cautiously.

“Nothing’s wrong. Everything is perfect.” Eren turned, walking away.

“Eren!” Armin called after him, but he ignored him.

“Just let him be for a while. We knew coming here was going to be rough for all of us.” Mikasa placed a hand on his shoulder. “Besides I have a feeling of where he’s going to go, and he’ll probably want to be alone.”

“Yeah.” Armin nodded, voice sounding small.  

“Let’s grab something to eat. I’m sure he’ll be hungry when we find him later.”

*

When they finally found Eren, he was right where they thought he’d be, in front of his old house. He was sitting on the ground, arms wrapped around his knees, across from the steps, staring up at the front window. There didn’t appear to be anyone home, as it was in the middle of the day, but Eren continued to watch the house unmoving.

The pair walked over and sat on either side of him.

“I brought you some food.” Mikasa handed him a wrapped sandwich.  

“Thanks,” Eren mumbled into his knees.

“Have you been sitting here this whole time?” Armin asked.

“No. At first, I just wandered around aimlessly, and then I ended up here by accident. I don’t even know why.” Eren shrugged.

They sat in silence, staring up at the newly rebuilt house, each lost in thought. So much had happened here. It felt like a lifetime had passed since they were kids.

“Do you remember when that group of bullies dared Eren to climb that tree, and he got stuck so we had to get Hannes to get him down?” Armin snorted.

“I was seven,” Eren cried.

“Oh, and do you remember when Eren said he could outlast them in a breath holding contest and he ended up passing out?” Mikasa giggled.

“Why are you ganging up on me? I still won though.” Eren stuck out his tongue at her.

“Your parents didn’t see it that way.” Armin pointed out not realizing what he said. Everyone got quiet after that.

“I’m sorry,” Armin whispered.

“Me too.” Eren sighed. “But it wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t any of our faults.”

“They’d be proud of what we accomplished,” Mikasa added.

“Do you think so?” Armin questioned.

“Mhm.” Mikasa nodded. “All of our parents would. Even your Grandfather. We helped save humanity.”

Armin looked up at the sky. “I wonder what they would say.”

“Probably all the typical things proud parents would say.” Eren shrugged finally taking a bite of his food.

At that moment, a little boy holding the hand of his mother, walked up the road to Eren’s old house. They stopped in front of them, and the woman smiled.

“Hello, are you three waiting for someone?”

“No,” Eren answered. “We were just remembering.”

The older woman nodded her head. “Did you live around here before the wall fell?”

“Yeah, in this very house actually.” Eren pointed to the house behind them.

The little boy gasped. “Mommy said that Humanity’s Savior lived here. Is that you?”

“Yeah.” Eren grinned at his enthusiasm.

The boy hopped up and down in place. “When I grow up I want to be in the Scouting Legion just like you!”

Armin smiled. “That’s quite the goal, but I’m sure you’ll get there someday.”

“Would you like to come in?” The woman offered.

“No, we should get going, but thanks for the offer.” Mikasa stood, dusting off her skirt.

“It was nice meeting you!” The boy waved at them and the small family walked to the house.

“Wait,” Eren called out to them. They paused, and Eren stood running over to them. “I’d like you to have this.” He held out a small piece of fabric to the little boy. On it was the crest of the Scouting Legion.

The boy’s eyes widened in awe as he took the fabric into his hands. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Eren smiled at him, and walked back to his friends.

“Mommy look what he gave me,” the little boy cried.

Armin frowned. “I thought you were going to leave that on the steps for your Mom.”

“I felt it would go to more use if he had it.” Eren shrugged, and started walking away. “We should get going. We still haven’t checked in at the outpost here.”

Armin followed after him, but Mikasa paused for a second looking one last time at the place she used to call home.

“Mikasa!”

She turned back to her friends, running to catch up with them.  

They were all the home she needed.  

 

****  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This is a work in the Song Verse Series. It'll be made up of one shots featuring various parings from SNK and Free! inspired by a song which is the title. The relevant lyric is the summary. There are only three fics that have a sequel within the verse, but other than that each story can be read on it's own. There are 15 fics total and I plan on posting a fic a day at midnight until my birthday on Jan 5th, so make sure to subscribe if you want to read all 15!
> 
> http://melloadams.tumblr.com/


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